Accidents Will Happen
by Lenni George
Summary: Ed and Lennie investigate a homicide and Ed ends up with a new love. My first stab at writing an "episode style" story with the romance in the background. Please, let me know what you think. Warning:original character ahead - read at your own risk!
1. Chapter 1

_**Intersection of 64**__**th**__** St and Park Avenue**_

_**January 8**__**th**__**, 2001**_

_**10:58 pm**_

The driver had no chance at all, Ed Green decided, as he studied the wreckage of one of Manhattan's countless fleet of taxis. The blue Ford Econoline van hit the cab square on the driver's door. From the amount of blood mixed in among the broken glass and twisted metal, the poor cabbie bled out right there.

When he arrived, a very young uniformed officer advised him that the cab had been carrying two passengers, who'd just left a reception held by Medicore Pharmaceuticals at the Plaza Anthenee. Passenger Walter Tsai, a research chemist, had sustained serious injuries and had been loaded into a bus to Bellevue for treatment. The other passenger, Andrea MacLean, a public relations rep, had been lucky enough to sit on the passenger side and had sustained much lesser damage. Ms. MacLean was still at the scene, waiting to speak with the police before making her own trip to Bellevue. 

Lennie was busy speaking to witnesses on the street, so Ed strolled over to the waiting ambulance. Sitting on the back bumper of the ambulance, clutching an ice pack to her head was an auburn-haired woman. Ed noticed two things about her immediately. The first was her legs, clad in black stockings, they were amazingly long. The second was her white wool coat. It was stained with blood, much more blood than the cuts on her face could have possibly produced. 

"Ms. MacLean?" he began, causing her to look up at him. He found himself drawn to her large, jade green eyes. 

"Yes?" 

"I'm Detective Green. I'd like to ask you a few questions about the accident."

"Anything I can do to help, Detective," she replied. 

"Can you tell me what happened prior to the accident?"

"Walter and I caught a cab in front of the Plaza Athenee. We'd been there for a reception for some of our European executives."

"Where were you and Mr. Tsai heading to?"

"We both live on the Lower East Side, so we shared a cab," she reported, brows furrowed as if in thought. "It seemed like that van plowed into us on purpose."

"Tell me what happened."

"We had the green light at the intersection and as we pulled out across Park, it just seemed like the van floored it and aimed right at us." She shook her head, and her skin went a shade paler.

"Ms. MacLean, are you okay?" he asked, reaching out his hand to steady her.

"I'm sorry, Detective Green, I think everything's hitting me," she offered a weak smile. "I'm really not feeling too well all of a sudden." 

"Detective," began the EMT, "We need to get this woman to the hospital."

"Ms. MacLean," Ed said, slipping his card into her hand. "We'll need to talk to you again."

"It's okay," she said, "I gave the first officer all of my info."

With that, the EMT's swept her off into the ambulance and shut the doors. Ed watched as they rode off.

"So, did she have any idea what happened?" Lennie asked, causing Ed to turn towards him.

Ed shrugged, "She said she thinks the van hit them on purpose."

Lennie raised a brow, "Funny, that's what everyone else said. Did you see who was in the van?"

"No, who?"

"Reverend Jeffrey Suskind," Lennie declared.

"As in the anti abortion activist, Reverend Jeffrey Suskind?" 

"One and the same," Lennie agreed. "The Reverend went out in the first bus. He was pretty bad off."

"Hm…wonder what kind of research Walter Tsai was working on," Ed mused.

"What makes you think Tsai was the target?"

"I can't imagine why the Reverend would pull a kamikaze mission to kill a Haitian immigrant cabbie or a PR person."

"You got a point. Let's see what we can find out about Mr. Tsai."

_**Medicore Pharmaceuticals Corporate Headquarters**_

_**30 Wall St**_

_**January 9, 2001**_

_**11:30 am**_

"So, that was a waste of time," Lennie smartly said, looking around the ornate lobby.

"You knew they wouldn't tell us anything," Ed dismissed, holding up a magazine, "But check this out. This trade publication says there's a rumor that Medicore is working on a "morning after pill", which, when taken shortly after conception will induce the body to abort the fetus."

"Well, that would raise my hackles if I were Reverend Suskind," Lennie agreed. "Let's go over to the hospital and see if Mrs. Tsai knows what her hubby was working on."

_**Bellevue Hospital**_

_**ICU**_

_**1:45 pm**_

"Mrs. Tsai," Ed began, "Do you have any idea what your husband was working on in the lab?"

"I really shouldn't say," Ling Mai Tsai quietly replied. "They made Walter sign a confidentiality agreement. If it comes out that he told me…"

"We're in the process of getting a subpoena for the lab records right now," Lennie said, "We'll get the information eventually. They will never know it came from you or your husband."

Mrs. Tsai took a deep breath and released it slowly. After looking around the room and assuring they were alone, she spoke, "He's working on something called a "morning after pill"."

Both detectives nodded knowingly.

"Do you think that's why that man tried to kill Walter?"

"We don't know yet, Ma'am," Ed sincerely said, "But we're going to do our best to find out."

Mrs. Tsai nodded, and then checked her watch. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going back into be with my husband now."

"Thank you for talking to us," Ed said, watching her walk out of the waiting room.

"Well, there's our motive," Lennie decided. "Let's go find the PR rep and see if she can shed some more light on the subject."

_**Room 215**_

_**2:10 pm**_

"I'm not sure what else I can tell you, Detectives," Andrea MacLean said. "It all happened so fast. I mean one minute we were laughing about the drunken girl from accounting and the next minute, there was silence. It was so surreal, like everything happened in slow motion. We pulled out on to Park and I heard an engine revving. Walter and I turned our heads and watched as the van plowed into us. Next thing I know, I'm shoved against the door, with Walter slumped against me, bleeding from God knows where."

"Did you see who was driving the van?"

"Older, white guy, sandy blond hair," she thought. "Kinda looks like that anti abortion guy that's always in the news for handcuffing himself to clinic doors. What's his name? Sussman? Suskind…yeah, that's it, he looked like him."

Ed nodded, watching as realization hit her. She looked between Ed and Lennie.

"Was it him? Oh dear God, don't tell me anybody would be that freaking fanatical to try and kill a research scientist who hadn't even perfected his formula yet." 

Neither of them responded, they couldn't without tainting her accounting of the accident.

"I take it by your silence that I'm right," she shook her head. "Shit…how does that make sense? Kill off a scientist to protect thousands of yet –to-be-conceived fetuses?"

"Ms. MacLean," Lennie began, "The DA's office is going to need you to testify to all of this in court."

"I'd be happy to do it," she hissed. "I don't care what your opinion of abortion is; it still makes no sense to kill people to stop it. Doesn't that defeat the purpose? Aren't they trying to save lives?"

"I hear ya," Ed nodded in agreement, watching as her green eyes sparkled wildly. 

"Just tell me when you need me in court, I'll be there," she decided.

_**27**__**th**__** Precinct **_

_**3:45 pm**_

"It seems too easy," Lt. Van Buren simply said, looking across her desk at Briscoe and Green. "Too cut and dried."

"Hey," Lennie laughed. "Every now and then, we get them that easy."

"Yeah, and you two are about due," she agreed. "Well, we've got Suskind on murder for the cabbie and attempted murder for Tsai and MacLean. Hopefully, Tsai will come out of surgery okay and be able to tell us something to corroborate Ms. MacLean's testimony."

"The people who witnessed the accident from the sidewalk agree with Ms. MacLean's story," Ed offered. 

"Just to be safe, why don't you check backgrounds on Tsai and MacLean," Van Buren suggested.

"I'll take Tsai," Lennie said, winking at Ed, "You dig up the dirt on MacLean."

"Who said there's dirt?" Ed asked, his tone slightly defensive.

"You'll never know til you dig around," Van Buren said, dismissing them from her office.

_**6:15pm**_

"Okay," Lennie yawned, "Sounds like Tsai's about as upstanding as they come. He emigrated from China in 1983 to attend University of Pennsylvania, brought his wife over two years later. The worst things I could dig up on him were an unpaid parking ticket and a late cable bill. You find anything on MacLean?"

Ed looked up from his computer, "Not much. Originally from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, graduated from NYU. The only wrinkle in her life that I can see is that her husband died in 1997."

Lennie raised a brow, "Died? She's young. What was he, a cop?"

"Marine," he concluded. "Killed in the line of duty."

Lennie nodded, "Tough break."

"Yeah," Ed agreed.

"Ah, she's a looker, I'm sure she won't stay single for long."

"Len," Ed shook his head.

"Wait, I hit on a nerve," Lennie gently teased. 

"What are you talking about?"

"Eddie, I caught you checking her out last night."

"Yeah, right."

"Hey, it's true, she is a looker. If I were twenty years younger…"

"And on that note, I'm out," Ed laughed, standing up. "Poker night tonight."

"Great, guess I'm buying coffee in the morning."


	2. Chapter 2

_**MediCore Pharmacueticals **_

_**Office of Andrea MacLean**_

_**January 15, 2001**_

_**10:15 am**_

Ed had barely taken a sip of his first cup of coffee that morning when the phone on his desk rang. He looked at it curiously, wondering who would be calling him at 8:20 am. He figured it might be Lennie, as his partner drew the short straw and had to spend his morning testifying on a prior case. He lifted the receiver, giving it a short, "Green" and waited for Lennie to begin grousing about his morning so far.

Instead, he was greeted by the voice of Andrea MacLean. Seems she'd gotten to work early that morning and as she sat and sipped a mug of coffee, she read through her email. She skimmed through the usual assortment of messages, but stopped when she came across the message titled "Important Information: For Your Eyes Only." She didn't recognize the sending email address, but since news leaked about the acquisition, she'd received all sorts of emails from concerned employees. She opened it, expecting to find questions about mergers and lay offs but instead found a message warning her not to testify.

After the initial shock wore off, she pulled Detective Green's card from her desk drawer and called him. He promised to come down as soon as he could. He approached the open door to her office and knocked on the frame.

"Come in," she called, looking up from her work. Ed could see the concern etched on her features.

"Ms. MacLean?" he began, walking in.

"Detective," she offered him a smile, "Come in, please. I'm sorry to bother you, but…"

"Don't apologize," he dismissed, "Can I see the email?"

She nodded, pulling it up on her screen as he walked behind the desk. As he leaned over her shoulder to read, he could smell her perfume. It was a subtle scent of roses and damn sexy. Closing his eyes for a moment, he forced his mind to focus on the email.

"Have you had your network people isolate the email?" he asked.

She nodded, handing him a business card. "This is our Network administrator. He said to have your guys contact him to exchange the info."

"Great," he slipped the card into his shirt pocket, then studied her for a moment. "Its okay, Ms. MacLean. We're going to get this sorted out."

Andrea nodded, "Ms. Carmichael from the DA's office had called to tell me they'd presented their witness list to the defense. I guess something had to happen, huh?"

"Hey," he softly said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "They're trying to scare you off, that's all."

"I'm sorry, Detective, but these are the same people who killed a cabbie and damn near killed Walter Tsai. What makes you think they won't decide to take me out, too?" She stopped, obviously trying to reign in her emotions.

"Because," he simply said, "We won't let them."

She sighed. "I'm sorry; I'm acting like some kind of hysterical drama queen. I'm just not used to getting death threats."

He pulled a business card from his pocket, turned it over and wrote something on the back of the card. Once he'd finished, he handed her the card.

"What's this?"

"That's my cell phone number," he began, slipping his pen back into his jacket pocket. "If you need it, just call."

"Detective…" she said, studying the telephone number.

"The DA needs you to testify, Suskind's people know it," he explained, wondering if he'd taken it a step too far. "They're going to try to scare you off. Just call that your insurance policy. NYPD can't provide you 24 hour protection, but this is the next best thing."

She smiled at him. "I guess I owe you one, huh?"

"Nah," he replied, flashing a smile, "They made me take this oath saying I'd protect and serve. I like to do it one citizen at a time."

She laughed, "Well, lucky for me, you pulled the case."

"Lucky for you," he laughed with her. "I'm going to go down and speak to your network administrator."

"Thank you, Detective," she seriously said, watching as he walked to the door.

"You take care, Ms. MacLean."

"Drea," she quickly said. "You can call me Drea."

"Drea," he repeated. "Take care, Drea."

_**27**__**th**__** Precinct**_

_**January 15, 2001**_

_**2:15 pm**_

"So," Lennie began, sitting down at his desk, "What did I miss?"

"How was court?"

"Long, boring," Lennie shrugged, "You should've offered to go in my place."

"No way," Ed laughed. "I did the last three trials; you've got to catch up."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Lennie laughed, looking at the paperwork on Ed's desk. "What's that?"

"Stuff on the Suskind case. Drea MacLean received a death threat this morning. It was traced back to Suskind's camp," Ed explained.

Lennie raised a brow. "Drea? Since when is she Drea?"

"Since this morning, when I went out to investigate the threatening email," he shrugged. "She was kinda freaked out."

"And she told you to call her Drea," Lennie laughed.

"Something like that," he shrugged.

Lennie shook his head, "Eddie, you've got the hots for her."

"Me?" Ed sniffed. "Nah, man. It ain't like that."

"Ain't it?" he went on, eyes twinkling; "Do you end up on a first name basis with every witness?"

Ed shook his head, "Lennie."

"Okay, okay. I'm going for coffee."

_**6:15 pm**_

"Eddie," Lennie began, slipping on his top coat. "You heading out of here soon?"

"I just want to finish this witness statement," Ed replied, looking up from his computer. "You have a good night."

"Yeah, you too," Lennie smiled. As he turned to leave, the telephone on his desk rang. He lifted the receiver and barked, "Briscoe."

Ed watched as his expression changed from mildly aggravated to down right pissed off. Lennie thanked the caller and looked at Ed.

"That was Bellevue, Walter Tsai just died."

"What?"

Lennie nodded, "Embolism after surgery." He shook his head, "Raise the murder count to two."

"Wonderful," Ed shook his head.

_**Office of the District Attorney**_

_**January, 16, 2001**_

_**11:15 am**_

"So, we've got two dead men, one survivor set to testify, and a religious fanatic accused of murder," Jack McCoy said, looking up from the folder in his hands.

"That about sums it up," Abbie Carmichael nodded. "But something just doesn't sit right with me on this one."

"It does look pretty simple," he agreed. "I don't trust the ones that are cut and dried."

"Here's what's eating me," Abbie explained. "How was Suskind able to time it so that he knew the cab with Tsai and MacLean was crossing Park?"

"Either he had an accomplice or he monitored the taxi service radio?" Jack tried.

"And how did he know they would be in that particular cab? Apparently, there were quite a few people getting into cabs at that time. There was no way that Suskind could have been on 64th St watching them get into the cab, then some how doubled back onto Park in time to speed up and hit them."

"Okay, so that takes us back to the accomplice," McCoy decided. "Someone tipped him off to the cab number that Tsai and MacLean were in."

"Unless," began the voice of DA Nora Lewin, "Tsai wasn't the target."

McCoy and Carmichael looked at her.

"Did the detectives do background checks on all of the cab's occupants?"

Abbie looked through the papers in front of her. "Yes, they didn't turn up anything on either one of them."

"What about the driver?"

"Henrick Agwe," she reported. "Emigrated from Haiti in 1998, lives in the Bronx with his cousin, obtained his hack license six months after coming into the country. No record."

"Look around a little more, I have a gut feeling about the cabbie…" Nora advised, then walked out of the room.

_**27**__**th**__** Precinct**_

_**January 16, 2001**_

_**1:30 pm**_

Ed hung up the phone and looked at Lennie with a triumphant grin.

"Okay, I give, what's going on?" Lennie laughed.

"Three weeks before the Reverend took out the taxi, Mrs. Suskind received treatment from a Doctor Randall Zoltan," Ed explained.

"And this helps us how?"

"Dr Zoltan is an ob/gyn on Park Avenue. He's apparently quite popular with those in the upper class who desire to have their pregnancies terminated."

Lennie raised a brow. "So, the Misses had an abortion?"

"We don't know that, yet. But considering her normal gyn is listed as a Dr. Stein out of Beth Israel, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say yes."

"Hm…so, maybe the Reverend had just found out and was so distraught that he crashed into the first cab he saw?"

"Nah, I don't buy it…"

"Well, he couldn't have been going after Tsai for the morning after pill. Not if she had a surgical abortion."

"And we already figured out that Drea wasn't the target…"

"So," Abbie Carmichael's voice began, as she approached their desks. "What about the cabbie?"

"The cabbie? What could he possibly have to do with it?"

"That's what we need to find out."

"Let's see if we can find out," Abbie smiled.

_**Sunshine Cab Company**_

_**January 16, 2001**_

_**2:12pm**_

"I don't know what I can tell you, Folks," Roger Szimeiwicz began, "Agwe was a decent driver. Never gave me any problems."

"Do you know anything about his personal life?" Abbie asked.

"Nothing, 'cept he lived with a cousin in the Bronx."

"Do you have the address?" Lennie asked.

"Yeah," Roger said, flipping through is rolodex and pulling out a card. "Here. I don't need it any more."

_**Apartment of Cyrus Agwe**_

_**January 16, 2001**_

_**4:00 pm**_

"My cousin was a good man," Cyrus Agwe began. "He never had any trouble with the law. He was studying to become a citizen and working two jobs."

"Two jobs?" Ed asked.

"Yes," Cyrus nodded. "He drove the cab and also did some private work, driving for some wealthy people."

"Did he do this through the cab company?" Lennie asked.

Cyrus shook his head, "No, he did it on his own. The last family he worked for hired him to drive the wife around. They paid him cash."

"You don't happen to have the name of this family, do you?" Ed prompted.

"No, I'm sorry, Henrick never said their names."

"Do you have any idea where they lived?" Abbie tried.

"That," Cyrus began with a smile, "I do have…" He walked to the cabinet and rifled through it, finally producing a small yellow paper. "This is a parking ticket that my cousin got when he was parked in front of their house."

Abbie took the paper from his out stretched hand, "Look at this," she smiled. "Does this address look familiar?"

Lennie, who was reading over her shoulder, smiled. "Hello, Reverend Suskind."

_**Good News Church**_

_**January 17, 2001**_

_**9:45 am**_

"We really don't know anything about Mrs. Suskind's driver," Doreen Nichols said. "The Reverend hired him to take her around, so that she wasn't traveling the city unattended."

"Why would he be concerned with her traveling unattended?" Lennie asked.

"Because Mrs Suskind can't go anywhere alone," began the young blond man who walked into the office.

"And you are?" Lennie asked.

"Dan Driscoll," he returned, "Reverend Dan Driscoll."

"Why can't Mrs. Suskind travel alone?" Ed asked.

"Because he doesn't trust her," Driscoll simply said.

"Reverend!" Doreen gasped.

"Come on, Doreen, I'm not telling anything that isn't common knowledge," he tiredly said.

"Why wouldn't he trust her?"

"Mrs. Suskind tended to…stray…if she wasn't watched."

"Stray?" Abbie asked. "As in…"

"Mrs. Suskind had a wandering eye," Driscoll explained.

"Ah, I get it," Lennie nodded. "So, the Reverend hired a private driver to keep an eye on her."

Driscoll nodded.

"But why hire him under the table?" Abbie asked.

"People liked to try to dig up dirt on the Reverend; he thought that by keeping the driver off the books, he'd keep those details to himself."

"Reverend," Ed began, "Did having this driver keep Mrs. Suskind from wandering?"

This time, Doreen spoke up, "Only because she was so fascinated by her driver."

"She was involved with her driver?"

"You didn't hear that from me," Doreen nodded. "Seems she discovered that she liked things on the dark side. No offense, Detective."

"None taken, Ma'am," Ed nodded. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"I'm afraid that's all I know," Doreen shrugged. "But if I hear anything else, I'll be sure to give you a call."


	3. Chapter 3

Office of the District Attorney

_**Office of the District Attorney**_

_**January 18, 2001**_

_**12:30 pm**_

"So, there you have it, Reverend Suskind," Jack McCoy concluded. "Based on everything we've reviewed, we're going to take you to trial for one count of Murder 2, one count of Manslaughter, and one of attempted Manslaughter."

"Can we cut a deal, Jack?" Shambala Green asked, looking at her client. "The Reverend was obviously overcome with emotion and made a bad choice."

"I would say that he did," Jack agreed, "He killed an innocent man."

"That man was working to kill babies," Suskind said, under his breath. "He was not innocent."

"Reverend," Shambala cautioned, then to McCoy. "Jack?"

"If he pleads guilty and allocutes the details, we'll go with two counts of Man 1 and one attempted manslaughter."

"All three to be served concurrently?" Shambala asked.

Jack shook his head, "We'll go with the attempted man served concurrently, but the two man 1's? No…they're back to back."

"Jack…"

"That's my deal, Shambala, take it or leave it. If he goes to trial, all of the sordid details of Mrs. Suskind's affair will be made available to the press."

"May I have a moment with my client?" she asked, standing.

McCoy nodded, and watched as Shambala and Reverend Suskind stepped out of the office. Pulling the door shut behind them.

"Do you think he'll go for it?" Abbie asked.

"If he wants to salvage anything of his ministry, he will."

Barely a minute later, the door opened and Shambala and Suskind walked back into the room.

"Well?"

"We'll take the deal, Jack."

"Smart move, Reverend."

_**Shoenstein Funeral Home**_

_**January 18, 2001**_

_**8:45pm**_

Ed walked through the crowded viewing room. He'd paid his respects to Walter Tsai's widow, then made his way to the back of the room. His eyes searched the group looking for Drea MacLean's but didn't see her in the large group of mourners.

Disappointed, he walked out into the cold January night. As he buttoned his coat, he noticed a woman sitting on the wide marble steps. Despite the fact that her back was towards him, he recognized her auburn hair.

"Drea," he began, causing her to turn quickly.

"Detective Green," she replied, looking up at him.

"It's Ed," he offered, stepping close enough to see that her eyes were red rimmed, as if she'd been crying.

"Ed," she nodded. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"I wanted to pay my respects," he explained. "And, I was hoping to find you here."

"I guess you know that Suskind made some kind of deal with the DA," she dryly said.

"I heard."

"Bastard should have to fry for what he did," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "Instead, he'll come back out in 10 or 15 years and be a free man."

It was a cold night and she was visibly shivering. "Do you want to go back inside?" Ed offered.

She shook her head, "I had to leave. I just felt like the walls were closing in on me. I felt bad, but Ling understood. I managed to get this far before my knees gave out and I had to sit down."

"Why don't you let me take you home?"

"I'm not ready to go home just yet," she admitted. "I was waiting for my knees to stop shaking and I was going to go get a drink somewhere."

"Come on," he held out his hand, "I'll get you a drink and then I'll take you home."

"I think I need to sit for another minute or two," she tiredly said.

"Then we'll sit," he decided, sitting next to her.

"Thank you," she quietly said. "For coming tonight and for sitting here with me."

He gave her a smile. "I told you, I took an oath."

"I'm sure you don't give every crime victim this treatment," she returned.

"No, I don't," he allowed.

"Why me?"

"Why you?" he repeated, not sure what to say.

"That's what I asked."

"I don't know," he honestly replied. "I figured that you really were an innocent bystander in all of this. I can't imagine what you're going through right now." He watched as a momentary look of disappointment passed across her features, then disappeared. "What? What did I say?"

"Nothing," she tiredly said, "Look, I'm totally freaked out by everything that has happened. And despite this calm, cool exterior, I'm just barely holding on to my emotions. My head's all screwed up and I'm not really thinking clearly…" She sighed. "Okay, it's late, I'm tired and rambling. I'm just gonna say what's on my mind."

"Say it," he replied with a coaxing smile.

"I find you amazingly attractive," she began, looking over at him. "I thought maybe there might be some attraction from your end too and that might be the reason you came looking for me. Obviously, I was wrong." She looked away. "And now that I've embarrassed the hell out of myself, I think I need to go home and get some sleep."

"You weren't wrong," he quietly said.

She turned back to face him. "I wasn't?"

He shook his head. "No, you've been stuck in my head since that night I talked to you in the ambulance. And I came here because…"

"Because?"

"Because, I couldn't get you out of my head and I want to get to know you better."

"Ah, the truth comes out," she said with a smile. "I'm sure that wasn't part of the NYPD Detective hand book on how to deal with crime victims."

Ed laughed, "No, not even close. You probably won't believe this, but I've never done this before."

"Told a woman you're attracted to her?"

"No," he laughed again, "I've told a whole lot of women that. I've met some really attractive women while working a case, but this is the first time I've ever admitted it to them."

"I guess that's pretty much taboo, huh?"

"Pretty much," he agreed.

"So, I guess we should probably forget we had this conversation and get back to the cop/victim thing, huh?"

"We probably should."

"That sucks," she said, placing her hand on his leg. "Like I said, I find you amazingly attractive. It's been a long time since I've met someone that I can say that about."

He placed his hand on top of hers and held it gently. "It's been a long time since I've had somebody stay on my mind like you have."

"Really?" she seemed surprised.

"Yeah," he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly, bringing a smile to her lips.

"If you leave right now," she said, "We can pretend this never happened."

"I'm a grown man, pretending isn't my style."

"Good answer."

"Besides, Suskind took the DA's deal," he went on, pulling her into his arms. "We closed the case file."

"And that makes it all okay?"

"It makes it less taboo." He stood up and held out his hand again. "Come on, let's get out of here."


End file.
